1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to antennas. More particularly, the invention relates to a compact adjustable antenna mount.
2. Description of Related Art
Antennas, such as reflector antennas for terrestrial microwave communication systems, may be highly directional. To maximize electrical performance, the antenna mount of an antenna may be finely adjustable for ease of obtaining a boresight alignment between antenna pairs forming an RF communications link. The antenna mount should maintain the selected alignment despite exposure over time to wind and/or ice loads acting upon the antenna that, depending upon the installation location, may rise to extreme levels during short periods such as storms. As a distance to the target antenna increases, even very small alignment shifts become significant. Should the antenna mount lose the desired boresight alignment, for example due to transient wind and/or ice loads, a significant expense may be incurred to return to a remote location such as atop a radio tower and repeat the alignment procedure.
Antenna mount ease of alignment adjustment and alignment stability characteristics may be improved in a trade-off with manufacturing cost and dimensional characteristics of the resulting antenna mount.
Competition in the antenna mount market has focused attention on improving alignment stability and ease of alignment adjustment while also minimizing overall manufacturing, inventory, distribution, installation and maintenance costs. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a reflector antenna mount that overcomes deficiencies in the prior art.